Paper Hearts
by Wish on the Star
Summary: "At the end of the day, the person you understand the least, is yourself..." Ami and Minori try to understand each other, themselves and their relationship.
1. Life Will Go On

Kawashima Ami sat on the hallway floor in her yellow tracksuit, her legs drawn up under her chin. It was getting chilly, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

So much had happened lately…

Those two idiots had finally come to terms with their feelings and told each other the truth. Taiga and Ryuuji were now a couple. She had seen it coming from the start – she was an excellent observer, after all.

A part of her felt a little empty. There was a weak, yet stinging pain in her chest. Was it because she had loved Ryuuji, too?

There was no denying that she had felt something for the boy with the scary face. He was different from the rest. In his eyes, she hadn't been Kawashima Ami, the model. He hadn't put her on a pedestal, like all those other boys. All those fanboys who adored her for her beauty and the persona she showed them.

Sweet, airheaded Ami-chan… What a laugh.

No, Takasu had just seen her for who she was; an arrogant bitch. Yet, he hadn't abandoned her. He knew her true self, but he still saw something good in her. What exactly he had seen, she didn't know, but she was happy that someone liked her despite her true self.

Even so, it hadn't hurt as much as she thought it would have when she forced Ryuuji to admit his feelings for Taiga earlier that day. She had wanted him to say it, both so that he himself would be certain of it, and so that she and Minori could finally let go of him.

However, she hadn't felt like she had lost anything in that moment. She hadn't lost Ryuuji.

Why was that? She knew there was no hope of them getting together after this, but that didn't make her all too sad.

Could it be she had already given up on him a long time ago?

Sure, he was an idiot, but that didn't mean that she hated him. At least, she didn't think so.

Maybe it was because she had always known, deep down, that his heart belonged to Taiga? That being said, there was a time when she thought he might choose Minori, but it didn't turn out that way, mostly thanks to Minori herself.

Yet, she had always known that Takasu wouldn't choose her. She was never an option in his eyes, even though they might have been a better match than him and Minori, or even him and Taiga.

Maybe that's why she gave up on him without even realizing it herself.

It was fine, though. It was for the best.

Without any lingering feelings, she would be able to remain friends with Taiga and Ryuuji.

That was good, wasn't it? It was, so why did she still feel sad?

A picture of a certain redhead popped up in her mind.

She might be over Ryuuji, but Minori wasn't. Minori had lost the boy she loved to her best friend, and she had lost her best friend to the boy she loved.

She must have felt so lonely.

Heck, Ami knew she was lonely. Hadn't Minori come to her earlier? Hadn't Minori broken down and cried in front of her? After all those mean things Ami had done to her, Minori must have been pretty lonely to come to her, of all people, for comfort.

Ami's heart broke a little for Minori.

She didn't know why exactly, but she had come to care for that dumb musclehead.

Maybe it was because they were in the same boat? Or was there another reason?

It didn't really matter right now.

She had tried to protect Minori, though. She had attempted to talk some sense into Ryuuji; tried to force him to make a choice, but in the end, the one she had tried to protect still got hurt.

Why did it have to be her? She deserved better than that. She deserved better than Taiga. She deserved better than Ryuuji!

Until now, Ami hadn't noticed how her hands had curled into fists, clenched together so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

Unclenching them, she picked up a shoe from the floor and threw it roughly against the front door.

"Stupid Takasu-kun!" she growled under her breath.

Why did he and Taiga get to be so happy when Minori was so miserable?

Why was she the one who had to end up heartbroken?

She had spent a lot of time pushing the girl, in hopes of getting her to open up to her. She could never see past Minori's mask, and that pissed her off.

Yet, when Minori had opened up to her tonight, she had hated it. She hated seeing her friend cry. She hated seeing her suffer, and all she had been able to come up with were some lame insults and some crap about how life goes on.

She had wanted to do more. Much more. But what could she have done to help Minori? There was nothing she could say in that moment that would have healed Minori's broken heart. And even if there was, did Ami have the right to say it?

She had never been nice to the girl. Insulting her… Pushing her…

She could have at least tried to reach out sooner. She could have stopped it before it got to this point. She knew the path they were walking down, but she hadn't said a thing.

Ami was just an observer. She only gave curt advice every now and then, in an attempt to guide them towards the right path. She should have known they were all too stupid to figure it out on their own. If she had put in more of an effort to help them, maybe Minori wouldn't be suffering so much now.

Even so, it was too late to change what happened in the past. She could still regret it, and she probably would, but Ami knew she had to focus on the future.

She had said it herself:

" _From now on, for ten years, for twenty years, for sixty years, life will go on."_

She knew they had to heal eventually. All of them. She would heal, and so would Taiga, and Ryuuji, and even Minori.

All she could do, for now, was to help her…

* * *

 **Hi!**

 **This story picks up after the events of episode 24 and will be following Minori and Ami, as well as their relationship.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always, reviews are much appreciated :)**


	2. Ghost

Minori had left her house last night, with a red, tear-stained face and a broken heart.

Ami would have let her stay over if she had asked, but at the time, Minori had looked so fragile, and she hadn't wanted to push her.

Today, however, she would approach her.

She wasn't going to stay on the sidelines anymore. This time, she would help Minori.

She knew that Ryuuji and Taiga would be leaving this afternoon. She hadn't talked to them since that day either, and she didn't feel the need to. She had said everything she wanted to say, and it wasn't like they would never meet again.

Running away seemed stupid to her, but at the same time, some distance might do everyone some good. It might do Minori some good.

Speaking of Minori, she was walking just a little bit ahead of her. Minori apparently hadn't noticed Ami behind her, and Ami hadn't noticed Minori up until now.

Replacing the frown on her face with a bright, yet forced smile, she ran up to the redhead and gave her back a slightly forceful push.

"Yo, Minori-chan!" she chirped in that almost too sweet voice of hers. She could hardly help it. It was second nature by now.

"Amin, what's with that greeting? Don't you think you beat me up enough during the skiing trip?" chuckled Minori playfully.

Ami knew very well that Minori was referring to their fight, but she decided to tease her further.

"What? Are you admitting that I beat you, now?"

"No way! You must have misinterpreted my words. You still have a lot to learn, little grasshopper," exclaimed the quirky girl with mock seriousness.

"I'm pretty sure you just indirectly admitted defeat," the bluenette argued.

"I, Kushieda Minori, will never admit defeat, for I am a true war hero," she declared confidently, doing a pose that was probably intended to look like that of a "war hero". Not that Ami knew what that pose was supposed to look like, but she was pretty sure whatever Minori was doing, was far from accurate.

She really fancied their banters. No one would banter with her the way Minori did. The conversation itself would usually be about something entirely pointless, and the redhead's arguments would be baseless or just plain gibberish, but maybe that's what made these exchanges so amusing.

She had to admit, Minori wasn't quite like anyone she'd ever met.

"Sure you are…" she simply agreed, however she made a point of not sounding very convinced.

* * *

"Fight on! Fight on! Fight on! Fight on!" cheered the softball player energetically as she ran past Ami, who just stood around, observing her for no particular reason.

"Hey, seriously…" she yelled after her, but Minori kept up her chants.

"Oohashi! Fight on! Fight on! Fight on!"

"You're not going to see them off?" the bluenette tried again.

"What? I can't hear you!" she just yelled, and Ami sighed under her breath.

The reason why Minori didn't want to go say goodbye to her two friends was clear.

"Regardless how strong of a will she has, she broke down after being dumped by both Taiga and Takasu-kun," muttered Ami to herself. Not that this was news to her.

Just then, something hard and cold made an impact with her face.

Snow?

Yes, it was definitely a snowball.

Her head snapping up to glare at the culprit, she yelled in a sharp voice.

"Why do I have to have a snowball fight with -" she started, but she didn't get to finish, because another snowball came flying towards her face.

Just barely managing to turn her face away in time, the snowball made an impact with her temple.

Now, that was the last straw.

Smirking playfully, though a bit annoyed, she decided to fight back.

"You bitch!" she shouted as she bent down to form a snowball to throw at Minori.

"Take this! Pure white sphere!" yelled the redhead as she took another shot at her.

After a long, heated battle, they both ended up on the ground, panting and laughing. The snow felt cold against the back of her head, but after all the moving around she had just done, it was comfortable.

She had to admit, she could understand how Minori had earned the title of captain of the softball team. Still, Ami felt that she had put up a good fight, all things considered.

Their laughter eventually died out and Minori sat up. A painfully long silence followed.

Ami looked at the other girl, wondering what was going on in her head. She half expected her to randomly break out in laughter again, or say something totally corny, so when she never did, it worried her.

"Minori-chan, are you okay?" she eventually asked, rather carefully.

"Yeah…" muttered the redhead, making Ami's head snap up.

"Then don't space out on me like that. Geez!" she huffed crankily, crossing her arms over her chest.

Minori still sat with her back towards Ami, staring off into the air. As she leaned a bit forward, the model thought she could spot something resembling a smile on her face.

It wasn't that usual, beaming, Minori-like smile that she usually wore. This smile was much smaller, nearly invisible even, but it had a sense of sincerity to it that Minori's smile usually didn't have.

"I saw a ghost last night, Amin," she spoke solemnly, still not looking at her.

"Huh?" Ami stuttered, taken aback by the sudden declaration, "You did what?"

She had long since figured that "ghost" was just a metaphor Minori used when she talked about the things she could and couldn't see. The things that were within reach, and the things that were out of reach. That time by the vending machines, Minori had said that she wanted to stop chasing after the things she couldn't see.

"I think she really wanted me to see her, you know… And that maybe, I can keep looking at her. If I can, I think I'll be alright… someday."

Ami blinked in confusion.

Did Minori just…?

Maybe she misunderstood it completely. Minori had a strange way of expressing herself, and the things she said often got misinterpreted by others. And sometimes, Ami wasn't convinced that Minori herself understood what she was saying.

One thing was for certain, though. Even though Minori wasn't literally looking at her, Ami had never felt the girl look at her the way she did now. Minori always looked through her, even when she looked right at her, but right now, Minori was actually _looking at her_ as she spoke.


	3. Theory of Some Things

It was early in the afternoon when Ami settled in a free booth at Jonny's Diner. She had just taken a quick trip back to her aunt's place to change into something more comfortable and drop her bag off before coming there.

Initially, she'd had plans with Maya and Nanako to go to the mall, but they had ended up cancelling on her for some or other reason.

Not that she minded terribly. After all, sometimes, those two talked more than she could listen.

As for why she had ended up here, well – why was that?

It certainly wasn't because the food was all that great, or the interior, for that matter. She wouldn't say either was terrible, but it didn't live up to her standards.

She would just have to admit to herself that she was here for Minori, wouldn't she?

"Honestly, what a pain…" muttered the model to herself, resting her head in her hand as her blue gaze drifted wearily across the diner.

After a few minutes of repeatedly looking around the diner, getting more and more bored by the second, she spotted a certain waitress heading her way.

"Hoho, couldn't stay away, could you Amin?" laughed the redhead, but her teasing comment fell on deaf ears.

"Working as hard as ever, I see," noted Ami, ignoring her friend's mockery.

"Yup!" chirped Minori brightly, "A girl's gotta eat!"

Seriously, since when was this about food? Ami knew very well that Minori's parents kept her fed and all that.

That girl was so weird…

She sighed heavily as she decided not to point that out.

"You're saving up for college, right?" she asked instead.

"Elementary, my dear Watson."

And what was the deal with all the Sherlock references?

Whether she would admit it or not, Minori was undoubtedly a fan.

"Yeah, yeah," muttered the model, chuckling to herself, "Just don't overdo it."

She couldn't help but worry a little, with how much Minori worked. Between her part-time jobs, school and softball, the girl led a busy life, yet she never seemed tired or discouraged.

Minori was energetic and optimistic, almost annoyingly so.

"Of course not!" she smiled, "Did you want to order something, or are you just here to witness my amazing waitress skills?"

"Hmm," Ami hummed playfully, "None of the above."

The other girl gave her a questioning look.

"I was wondering when your shift ends. I thought maybe we could do something afterwards?"

At this, Minori's already wide smile grew even wider.

"Sure," she agreed, "My shift ends in about an hour."

Ami smiled back at her.

"Okay, then I'll have a coffee while I wait. Wouldn't want to hold you up for so long without even ordering anything."

"Alrighty! One coffee coming right up," she chirped before suddenly leaning in. Ami jerked back in her seat at the sudden closeness. The redhead's face was no more than a mere two inches from hers as she whispered, "I could throw in some French fries on the house."

Still a little startled – her heart beating ever so slightly faster than normal – Ami straightened up and smiled at her.

"No, that's okay. I'll just have a coffee."

As soon as those words had passed her lips, Minori was gone, already on her way to the next table to take another order.

* * *

She was in her usual spot during lunch break. Having escaped from Maya and Nanako's dreadfully boring argument about some boyband, she found herself hiding away by the vending machines.

She could hear footsteps approaching.

Well, she guessed it was unavoidable. The vending machines were quite the popular place during lunchtime.

"Oh, hello there, Ami," spoke a familiar voice. She looked up to see the face of her childhood friend, Kitamura Yuusaku.

"Hey there, Yuusaku," she muttered, not bothering to fake a smile for him. Being able to be herself around someone was relaxing. She liked that there was at least one person who could put up with her at times obnoxious personality. Though she would never admit it out loud, she was thankful to Yuusaku.

"So, how have you been lately? We haven't really had the chance to talk since Takasu and Aisaka left," he continued to chat as he got a can of tea from the vending machine.

"Okay, I guess," she stuck her nose up and flipped her hair, "Though losing to Taiga is pretty annoying."

At this, her friend just laughed as he settled down on the floor opposite to her.

"Huh, is that so…" he chuckled to himself, "It's good to know you weren't more hurt by it than that."

He didn't seem surprised about that, Ami noticed.

Sure, she had realized quite some time ago that Ryuuji would choose Taiga over her, and she had come to terms with it, but she hadn't thought Yuusaku was that aware of what was going on in her heart.

For someone who could be so stupid when it came to love, he sure had realized a lot about her.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Kushieda lately. That's also good," he spoke after a long silence.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Why did Yuusaku think that her spending time with Minori was a good thing?

"It's good for both of you to have someone to talk to right now," he explained, "And Kushieda could really use a friend like you."

What a laugh. There was no way Minori considered her a friend.

Up until just recently, they hadn't gotten along at all. They were so different, and they constantly butted heads.

…So when had all that changed?

There had always been moments where they got along just fine, but it was only lately that they had become rather frequent.

Ami had tried to look out for her. Her methods may not have been very effective, and she knew she had ultimately failed, but that didn't change the fact that she had wanted to keep Minori from getting hurt.

But despite that, she couldn't imagine Minori thinking of her as a friend.

"Oh please… To her I'm just _Professor Amin_ , the one with all the answers to her stupid fucking questions," she pointed out bitterly, "She never came to me while she had Takasu-kun and Taiga. I was only good enough after they dumped her – not that it bothers me."

Yuusaku's smile didn't falter as he spoke.

"Except I can tell it does. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be chosen."

"By Kushieda Minori?" she almost yelled, "Seriously, Yuusaku, can you fucking hear yourself?!"

Like hell she wanted Minori to "choose" her. Not like that, nor in any other way.

She didn't need Minori to confide in her, and she didn't need her friendship.

Sure, she wouldn't mind if they became friends, but she didn't _need_ it.

And she certainly didn't want anything more than that.

"And even if I did, Minori-chan already made her choice."

Where did that come from?

No, she didn't like Minori. She didn't hate her or anything, and she didn't want to see her get hurt. And because she hadn't been able to prevent her from getting hurt, she now felt the need to help her heal.

That's all there was to it.

"And she isn't allowed to change her mind? Weren't you in love with Takasu at first?" the boy pointed out wittily.

"How is that relevant right now?" she spat venomously.

"Well, you're over him now, aren't you?" he spoke, but she could tell it was a rhetorical question, "I can tell you are. And now someone else has taken his place in your heart. Who is to say, that once Kushieda heals, you won't be the one to take up the empty space in her heart?"

She stood up from her spot between the two vending machines and dusted off her skirt.

"Seriously, what are you talking about? You're so gross," she huffed in annoyance before she began walking away from him.

Lunch break was almost over, anyway.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, but fine, deny it all you want. Just make sure you don't miss your chance!" he yelled after her, still keeping his cool.

Why was he always so composed? It was unfair.

She turned back around, feeling a flare of anger rise up within her.

"The hell, Yuusaku? Don't think you know shit just because you got dubbed _The God of Broken Hearts_ or whatever!" she hissed.

"I'm not saying this as some love guru, Ami. I'm saying it as your friend," he said, trying to calm her down a little.

Taking a deep breath, Ami attempted to recompose herself.

"Whatever," she muttered under her breath, "Are you done? I wanna go."

Her liking Kushieda Minori? As if!

"And for future reference, Yuusaku, don't try to psychoanalyze people."


End file.
